MEĐUNARODNI PROBLEMI

The Orthodox Christian Chessboard, Game Theory, and Decision-Making in Orthodox Christianity

Veković Marko (University of Belgrade – Faculty of Political Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia), marko.vekovic@fpn.bg.ac.rs

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, it became obvious that a host of issues are being fought out within Orthodox Christianity. Nevertheless, we lack deep knowledge of the forces driving these events and how we should understand them. That is why in this paper I propose the concept of an “Orthodox Christian Chessboard,” a model that maps the (geo)political interactions among autocephalous Orthodox Churches as strategic actors within a complex political-religious landscape. As such, this paper conceptualises Orthodox Christian Churches as players in a game-theoretical model, a tool well suited for explaining their behaviour in the international arena. Focusing on the case of the Church autocephaly dispute in North Macedonia, which was finally resolved in 2022, this paper shows that all involved actors behaved rationally and strategically.

Keywords: Orthodox Christianity, game theory, decision making, Orthodox Christian Chessboard, North Macedonia, autocephaly